Introduction: Non-ablative fractional erbium-doped glass 1540 nm and fractional ablative 10600 nm carbon dioxide lasers are regarded as effective modalities for treating acne atrophic scars. In this study, we aimed to compare the effectiveness of fractional CO2 laser and fractional nonablative 1540 nm erbium doped glass laser in treating post acne atrophic scars in Egyptian patients. Methods: Fifty-eight patients complaining of moderate and severe acne atrophic scars were randomly divided into 2 groups of 29 patients each. Both groups were subjected to 4 treatment sessions with 3 weeks interval and were followed up for 3 months. In group A, enrolled patients received CO2 laser, while in group B, patients were treated with 1540 nm erbium glass fractional laser. Results: Clinical assessment revealed that the mean grades of progress and improvement were higher with fractional 10600 nm CO2 laser but with non-significant difference between both treatments (P = 0.1). The overall patients' satisfaction with both lasers were not significantly different (P = 0.44). Conclusion: Both fractional ablative CO2 and fractional non-ablative erbium glass lasers are good modalities for treating acne scars with a high efficacy and safety profile and good patient satisfaction. The fractional ablative laser showed higher efficacy while non-ablative laser offered less pain and shorter downtime.
BackgroundFractional CO2 laser is one of the most effective treatment options used to resurface scars.ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy and safety of early treatment of postsurgical scar by fractional ablative CO2 laser.MethodsA total of 27 Egyptian patients with recent postoperative scars were enrolled in this study. Three sessions of fractional CO2 laser with a 1-month interval were started 4 weeks after surgery. Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) was used as an assessment tool at 1 and 3 months after the final treatment. Patients reported their satisfaction using a subjective 4-point scale.ResultsResults demonstrated a statistically significant overall average improvement of the VSS (5.33±1.33) before compared with (2.55±1.06) 3 months after the last laser treatment (P≤0.001). Among the individual parameters in the VSS, the most significant improvements were found in pigmentation, height, and pliability. Patient’s subjective satisfaction scores showed a significant greater degree of satisfaction after laser treatment.ConclusionFractional ablative CO2 laser is an effective and safe treatment modality for surgical scars in the early postsurgical period.
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